Riot Games has announced its plan to consolidate its two current Latin American League of Legends competitions into a singular league – the name of which is yet to be announced.
Eight teams will face off in this new league starting in 2019, playing in Santiago de Chile, Riot Games believes the location contains means that are “essential for the future of the scene”. Riot Games originally made a decision in 2016 to segment Latin America into North and South to increase “the relevance, audience and internal of each of the leagues.” As the announcement admits, it didn’t quite work out as expected.
As it stands, Riot Games currently operates both the America South Cup (also known as Copa Latinoamérica Sur or CLS) and the Latin America North League (also known as Liga Latinoamérica Norte or LLN). Each league sees eight teams in contention to win, though when the leagues are brought together, there will only be room for eight teams. Riot Games are expected to reveal how these teams will be decided upon in the upcoming days – alongside the competition format and key dates for the league.
The announcement explains the decision: “Latin America has a diverse and extremely rich culture, but we believe that esports fans share many similarities across the continent. The way in which an Argentine player passionately enjoys a final is not different from the excitement of a Mexican fan to see his favourite team devote champion, and that is reflected in each and every one of the countries that make up the region. Today we believe that dividing efforts, resources and fans into two scenes that share so much is not the best way.”
Esports Insider says: Bringing the competitions together with the best teams from both North and South Latin America regions sounds ideal for providing the most competitive experience. Riot Games tried doing it another way and realised it perhaps wasn’t the best way, so we’re looking forward to seeing what they pull out of the bag for this unnamed league.
